More Able, Gifted & Talented Policy

September 2017

Wednesbury Learning Community Trust

More Able, Gifted and Talented Pupil Policy

Harvills Hawthorn Primary School

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‘What separates the very good from the merely good, for gifted and talented pupils, is the willingness of teachers to ‘let go’ of prescribing outcomes. Promoting independent learning skills and creativity are defining features of very effective teaching for able pupils in primary schools’.

David Bell HMC

Introduction:

The DCSF used to define ‘gifted and talented’ as follows (but this is no longer a restraint):

Gifted / Top 5-10% of pupils per school as measured by actual or potential achievement in the main curriculum subjects e.g. Maths, Literacy , Science
Talented / Top 5-10% of pupils per school as measured by actual or potential achievement in the subjects Art, Music and PE.

We have decided to maintain the top 5-10% measurement of pupils per school to identify our more able and gifted children. We are going to be more flexible on the number of talented children on the register so that children aren’t excluded simply because the school has “met it’s quota” so that we can recognise and value all talents within the arts, music and physical activities.

The following areas have been identified as being the main areas of ability and are based on the Howard Gardner seven intelligences. Category A includes those who are gifted and B-E those who are talented.

A. Intellectual(aspects of English, Maths and Science)

B. Artistic and Creative(Art, Design, Music and Drama)

C. Practical (Design and Technology, Mechanical Ingenuity)

D. Physical(PE, Sports and Dance)

E. Social(Personal and Interpersonal, Leadership qualities, working with adults)

Our Principal aims are to:

  • Ensure that all staff can successfully identify more able, gifted or talented children as early as possible, through an agreed, shared definition of the said terms;
  • Ensure that staff challenge and extend the children through the work that they set them;
  • Develop the children’s thinking skills through extended and enriched learning activities and diverse questioning;
  • Offer children opportunities to generate their own learning;
  • Encourage the children to work independently;
  • Develop the specific skills or talents of each child;
  • Be concerned not only for children’s academic development, but also for their social, moral, spiritual and emotional development.

Identification of more able and very able children

We use a range of strategies to identify more able and very able children. The identification process is ongoing and begins when the child joins our school. Each child’s pre-school record gives details of their achievements and interests in particular areas. Discussions with parents and carers enable us to add further details to these records.

Children undergo teacher assessment within the first half-term of joining our reception class. This gives information about their developing skills and aptitudes across several areas of learning. We discuss each child’s baseline assessment information with the parent, and use this information when planning for individual needs.

As the children progress through the school, we assess them regularly to ensure that they are making the sort of progress that we are expecting of them in their personal targets. We identify them as more able and very able children when they achieve high levels of attainment across the curriculum, or in particular skills or aspects of subjects.

The children undertake Statutory Assessment Tests in Year 2 and Year 6. Teachers also make regular assessments of each child’s progress in all subjects of the National Curriculum. We compare the information from these tests with a range of national and LA data, in order to ensure that each child is making appropriate progress.

Each teacher regularly reviews the children’s progress and inputs this data into the Pupil Performance Tracker. Each term a Data Conversation is conducted with individual staff in order to monitor the progress of all pupils within a cohort.

A child who has been identified as more able, gifted and talented will be recorded on the More Able, Gifted and Talented Register. The area of ability will be recorded and planned for accordingly.

Outside referrals from experts, subject specialists or other agencies. (See Appendix 1 for aptitudes in English and Mathematics and Appendix 2 for characteristics of G&T learners.)

Provision

There are various ways of meeting the needs of the more able, gifted and talented pupils. These include:

Acceleration, Extension, Enrichment, Differentiations, Teaching thinking skills

  • Acceleration – will be carefully considered to take account of the social development of the pupil and ability across the curriculum
  • Extension – means giving the most able the opportunity to go more deeply into whatever the topic is under study. All short-term planning should include the extension activities for more able pupils
  • Enrichment –additional activities on the same topic should be stretching -not just more of the same enrichment activities are: Accessible, extendible, not restrictive, enjoyable and involve: decision making, speculation, hypothesis, discussion and communication.
  • Differentiation – should maximize potential, should also match aptitude and interest, exploring relevant teaching approaches.

Most provision will be through the curriculum with extra curricular activities being provided where possible or appropriate to meet particular needs. Enrichment and extension activities could be provided in the following formats:

  • Extra-curricular activities in school
  • Visits/trips
  • Links with other schools
  • Links with specialist organizations

All of the above are currently being met by opportunities becoming available as a result of initiatives launched by the Black Country School Improvement Programme and West Midlands GTX gifted and talented programmes. These include the following:

‘Publishinghouse me’ a securely managed website that gives mainly G&T pupils across all key stages the opportunity to put writing of all genres into the public domain where other pupils can access it. This is a growing success as pupils see many styles of writing and presentation put into practice by their peers, thus they learn and improve their own levels of writing. This site also gives the opportunity for artwork and critical comment on the world around them to be presented to a wider audience.

A growing gifted and talented series of courses is becoming available through the West Midlands Gifted and Talented programme. These can be accessed through the website and take place either in schools, who can bring in presenters on a cluster basis, or in stimulating venues throughout the West Midlands, led by inspiring presenters.

Management strategies

A teacher is nominated to co-ordinate activities aimed at supporting gifted and talented pupils. The co-ordinator’s role includes:

  • ensuring that the More Able, Gifted and Talented register is up to date;
  • monitoring teachers’ planning to ensure that suitable tasks and activities are being undertaken by more able and very able children across all curriculum areas;
  • regularly reviewing the teaching arrangements for more able and very able children;
  • monitoring the progress of more able and very able children through termly discussions with teachers;
  • supporting staff in the identification of more able and very able children;
  • providing advice and support to staff on teaching and learning strategies for more able and very able children;
  • liaising with parents, governors and LA officers on issues related to more able and very able children.

The class teachers will:

  • Fulfil their role in the identification and nomination of more able, gifted and talented children;
  • Plan and teach to meet the individual needs of MA,G&T learners through differentiation, the use of a MA,G&T learning plan or Provision Mapping.
  • Evaluate progress termly and review the learning plan annually updating when necessary.

Appendix 1

Aptitudes in English and Mathematics

More able and very able children in English are identified when they:

  • demonstrate high levels of fluency and originality in their conversation;
  • use research skills effectively to synthesise information;
  • enjoy reading and respond to a range of texts at an advanced level;
  • use a wide vocabulary and enjoy working with words;
  • see issues from a range of perspectives;
  • possess a creative and productive mind and use advanced skills when engaged in discussion.

More able and very able children in mathematics are identified when they:

  • explore a range of strategies for solving a problem;
  • are naturally curious when working with numbers and investigating problems;
  • see solutions quickly without needing to try a range of options;
  • look beyond the question in order to hypothesise and explain;
  • work flexibly and establish their own strategies;
  • enjoy manipulating numbers in a variety of ways.

Appendix 2

General characteristics of gifted and talented learners

The following characteristics (taken from the 1998 Ofsted review of research by Joan Freeman) are not necessarily proof of high ability but they may alert teachers to the need to enquire further into an individual’s learning patterns and ability levels.

He or she may:

  • be a good reader;
  • be very articulate or verbally fluent for their age;
  • give quick verbal responses (which can appear cheeky);
  • have a wide general knowledge;
  • learn quickly;
  • be interested in topics which one might associate with an older child;
  • communicate well with adults – often better than with their peer group;
  • have a range of interests, some of which are almost obsessions;
  • show unusual and original responses to problem-solving activities;
  • prefer verbal to written activities;
  • be logical;
  • be self-taught in his/her own interest areas;
  • have an ability to work things out in his/her head very quickly;
  • have a good memory that s/he can access easily;
  • be artistic;
  • be musical;
  • excel at sport;
  • have strong views and opinions;
  • have a lively and original imagination/sense of humour;
  • be very sensitive and aware;
  • focus on his/her own interests rather than on what is being taught;
  • be socially adept;
  • appear arrogant or socially inept;
  • be easily bored by what they perceive as routine tasks;
  • show a strong sense of leadership; and/or not necessarily appear to be well-behaved or well liked by others.

Appendix 3

Underachievement

Gifted and talented underachievers may tend to:

  • have low self-esteem;
  • be confused about their development and about why they are behaving as they are;
  • manipulate their environment to make themselves feel better;
  • tend towards a superior attitude to those around them; and find inadequacy in others, in things, in systems, to excuse their own behaviours.
  • Sometimes those with abilities in one or more areas of learning may also suffer from a disability or difficulty in others. This can present a considerable barrier to the achievement of potential, as well as leading to frustration and disaffection.
  • Developing strategies and approaches to countering underachievement should be an integral part of the school policy for gifted and talented provision. The key aspects of

underachievement that need to be taken into account and considered are:

  • What are the indicators of underachievement?
  • What are the causes of underachievement?
  • What are some ways of countering underachievement?
  • Are there potential causes due to dual or multiple exceptionalities?

Appendix 4

Gifted and Talented Pupils

Dislike:

  • Being made to feel ‘different’
  • Acting as an unpaid teacher
  • Too much independent activity – they welcome direct teaching and interaction with the teacher
  • Insufficient structure to lessons – they like to know where the lesson is heading
  • Their requests for help being ignored
  • Over-emphasis on writing – “Writing for the sake of it”
  • Dictation
  • Time-filling activities such as colouring in
  • Low level tasks (e.g. simple recall)
  • Teachers assuming that they know what to do
  • Teachers who ‘go on and on’
  • Having to remain silent for long periods (excluding tests, exams etc)
  • Teachers who have no sympathy for them when they encounter barriers to learning
  • Being told to ‘work it out for yourself’ when they are genuinely unable to undertake a task
  • Lack of variety in homework – always just finishing off what they have begun in class
  • Lack of variety in classwork – in the teacher’s restricted range of teaching approaches
  • Always being given more of the same when they finish work early
  • Not being told what the lesson objectives are
  • Lockstep teaching
  • Having to work at the same pace as everyone else (usually far slower)
  • ‘waiting around’ for the next task/the teacher’s attention
  • Sexist teachers
  • Condescending teachers
  • Not being allowed to have an ‘off day’
  • Not receiving praise or recognition for doing well
  • Being seen as a ‘trophy’ by the school not as a person
  • Lack of consistency among teachers
  • Unfair awards – lack of differentiation
  • Work which is far too hard or far too easy
  • Not being give any choice in how to present work
  • Being criticised by teachers for not getting 100% all the time
  • Working with the same people all the time
  • Being left to just ‘get on’
  • Always having to help people who find the work difficult or who simply don’t want to learn
  • Constant pressure to do well and be involved in everything
  • Unrealistic deadlines
  • Repeating work
  • Teachers who over explain
  • Having to wait until the whole class understands what to do before they can begin work
  • Unhelpful marking (e.g. a simple tick or cross or ‘good’, instead of reasons why something was good or incorrect with suggestions as to how it might be improved.

Appendix 5

Gifted and Talented Pupils

Like…..

  • Variety!
  • Real discussion (not just someone talking through the teacher)
  • Time limited tasks
  • Teachers who treat you as an intellectual equal
  • The chance to have FUN in a lesson
  • Teachers who get the whole class involved
  • Working with different people
  • Teachers who set clear targets and explain clearly how they can go about reaching them
  • Practical work
  • Thinking activities
  • Investigations
  • Problem solving
  • Group work
  • Drama and role play in ordinary lessons
  • Teachers who ‘break up’ activities
  • Teachers who are consistent
  • Alternative forms of recording (e.g. attribute webs, KWL grids, mind maps, mnemonics, concept maps etc)
  • Working beyond the syllabus/SOW to consolidate and reinforce learning
  • Study skills and revision techniques taught THROUGH subjects not in isolation
  • Teachers who enjoy learning themselves
  • Teachers who team teach
  • Teachers who have a good sense of humour and make learning FUN
  • Structure to tasks
  • Cho0osing their own activities sometimes
  • Quizzes
  • Competitions
  • Opportunities to work at their own pace
  • Being allowed to have an ‘off day’
  • Learning from mistakes in a supportive environment
  • Being given something different and interesting to do if they finish early
  • Opportunities to study something at great depth
  • Independent research
  • Applying knowledge to real problem events

Appendix 6

What constitutes an effective lesson for Gifted and Talented pupils?

  • My teacher listened to my ideas and used them in the lesson
  • We completed a wide variety of tasks
  • We played games which helped us understand and remember a challenging topic
  • My teacher asked for my opinion
  • My teacher treated me as an intellectual equal
  • My teacher was aware that I already had an interest in and knew quite a lot about the topic we were studying and set me a different task to the rest of the group
  • I was allowed to research the topic in depth
  • I worked with resources/equipment that we don’t usually work with
  • I worked with someone I don’t usually work with
  • I was encouraged to choose how I presented what I had learned about the topic
  • I was encouraged to challenge my teacher
  • We had real discussion
  • The task(s) we had to do were really challenging
  • I made a model
  • The task seemed impossible but my teacher, by careful; questioning and encouragement helped me see that it was achievable
  • We only wrote things down that were absolutely necessary
  • We were given clear targets by the teacher who explained clearly how we might go about reaching them
  • I was involved in a role play
  • We had a quiz
  • I was given something different and interesting to do because I finished early
  • We were given a task where we really had to think
  • We were given problem solving activities
  • The task was open ended
  • I was allowed to work at my own pace
  • My teacher made the lesson a fun experience
  • We were given an interesting homework to do which was based on the lesson

Appendix 7

Less Effective/Less Stimulating Lessons involve……

  • Copying from the board, worksheet or book
  • Cutting and sticking masses of information into files/books
  • Writing for the sake of writing
  • Over explanation by teachers
  • Teachers who set a task and then simply leave the class to it
  • Covering work / information that students know already
  • ‘Dead time’ – fast workers/early finishers having to sit and wait for others to catch up
  • Undifferentiated punishments e.g. the whole class having to stay behind, copy out work or being shouted at when only one or two pupils are off-task, uninterested or disrupting others
  • Colouring in
  • Low level tasks (e.g. ‘filling in the missing word’ activities etc.)
  • Too much time to complete tasks – students slow their own pace of working to fit the time available
  • Lockstep teaching (i.e. every student doing exactly the same task at exactly the same pace)
  • Teachers who talk all lesson
  • Teachers’ lack of sympathy, advice and support when highly able pupils encounter barriers to learning instead of making comments like “you should be able to do that”
  • Lack of variety in tasks set – the same thing every lesson (E.g. colouring in, copying notes etc)
  • Not being given the bigger picture – studying information in minute detail without seeing the whole first then working back
  • Under explanation on the part of teachers – teachers assuming that because they are able, they will automatically know what to do